City warms to Interbulk despite 4% sales fall

Published on Monday 29 June 2009 21:44

EAST Kilbride transport logistics company Interbulk saw shares jump by more than a fifth yesterday after reporting an increase in first-half profits, despite a drop in revenue.

Aim-listed Interbulk provides logistical services for the transport of bulks goods. Its customers include major chemical and pharmaceutical companies.

Yesterday it reported a 4 per cent fall in turnover to 116.9 million in the six months to 31 March, blaming a fall in worldwide trading.

But despite the fall in sales, Interbulk said that tight control over costs boosted operating profits by 30 per cent to 9m, while pre-tax profits rose 92 per cent to 3.4m.

Chairman David Rolph, who maintained that the group was proud of the results in a difficult trading environment, said:

"Through a combination of our resilient business model and swift action taken by management to implement cost reductions, Interbulk remains well positioned in our chosen markets."

Rolph admitted that trading in Europe had been particularly hard hit during the period, while Asia had been stronger, with revenues ahead of the first half of the last financial year.

In December, then chairman Bill Thompson stepped down to relocate to Beijing to build its business there.

Yesterday Rolph promised that achieving further growth in China was a "strategic priority" for the company, although the domestic business "is at an early stage of development".

Interbulk has secured several enhanced deals with high- profile customers in recent months. This month it announced it had secured an improved supply contract from agricultural goods company Syngenta, after earlier reporting business wins with AkzoNobel and Lucite.

Shares in Interbulk closed up 21 per cent, or 0.38p, to 2.12p.